Description

This book provides a concise analysis of the making of Kurdistan, its peoples, historical developments and cultural politics. Under the Ottoman Empire Kurdistan was the name given to the autonomous province in which the Kurdish princes ruled over a cosmopolitan population. But re-mapping, wars and the growth of modern nation-states have turned Kurdistan into an imagined homeland. The Kurdish question is one that continually reappears on the international stage because of the strategic location of Kurdistan. In describing the ways in which Kurdistan and its history have been represented and politicized, the author traces the vital role of the nationalist States of Turkey, Iran and Iraq in the crafting of political actors in the region.show more

Table of contents

Introduction Chapter 1: Nationalizing Origins: Imagining the Ottoman Empire and Kurdistan Chapter 2: 'Set aside from the Pen and Cut off from the Foot': Imagining the Ottoman Empire and Kurdistan Chapter 3: Representing Kurds: A Brief History of Kurds and Kurdistan in Ethnography Chapter 4: Kemalism and the Crafting of National Selves in Kurdistan Chapter 5: Kurdish Inhabitation of the 'Kemalist City' Conclusionshow more

About Christopher Houston

Christopher Houston is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.show more